//------------------------------// // Holiday Special Part 1 // Story: The Bridge: A Godzilla-MLP Crossover // by Tarbtano //------------------------------// =================== Outside Canterlot High =================== As soon as she and Monster X stepped through the portal, Hyper Gyaos noticed her body felt strange and noted two things. Firstly, it was much brighter here than back in Zenith and forced her vision to blur momentarily. Secondly, as she sniffed around whilst her sight was clearing; this place reeked of monkeys. It didn't seem to make any sense to the kaiju. If this was a parallel realm to Equestria, then she should be picking up equines. -Why do I smell primates?...- Both kaijus' vision cleared at the same time and they both froze up. They were standing beside a statue of some sort in front of a large building. It was snowing, with odd decorations strung about every which way. And there were humans everywhere! The dark duo stood still for a few moments and tensed up, bracing for one of the crowds to notice them and spur a panic. They waited ten seconds in a guarded stance, X putting his forearms up as Gyaos got on all fours to charge. But far from a scream, the only response the two got was a young blue haired man with oddly yellow skin glancing at them with a confused look and a raised eyebrow as he passed by. The kaiju stood still, Hyper Gyaos whispering over to her cohort after a moment passed. "Shouldn't they be reacting a little more than this?" "I don't know... But I feel small again. That blue haired one wasn't much shorter than me." It took a moment's breath for Gyaos to notice how cold her hands felt in the snow. They were only numbing slightly but she couldn't even feel her claws. What's more, the kaiju had the oddest feeling something was covering her. Her eyes were slowly widening, noticing her snout was missing. She jolted up to her feet and stared blankly in front of her. Judging from the sound of X's arms dropping as he got into a similar pose, he'd reached a similar thought. The two slowly turned and looked at each other. -"......!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!"- The entity standing in front of Hyper Gyaos was no extraterrestrial. It was a tall man wearing a large overcoat and boots. The jet black skin, blood red eyes, and white-gray hair along with his clothes' black and white color scheme however registered who she was looking at, despite her memory calling foul. If she had to estimate physical age, she'd put him at mid twenties. However it was the only guess she could make based off size and build, given the man's face was covered in a white mask and scarf. As Hyper Gyaos was looking up, X was looking down at both the foreign and familiar at the same time. The woman was tall for a human female, though still about a head shorter than himself. The hair was moderately long and straight, reaching down to the hoodie she was wearing. The rest of the female's attire was mildly ragged and worn. And most of it was all just as pale as she was. The only color on her aside from her eyes was occasional dashes of purple, be it a strand of her bangs, the gem mounted on her choker; and a particularly perplexing length of fabric attached to the upper body's apparel. Pink eyes looked back up at him with a mutually bewildered look. The wind blew between the two as they stood there more frozen than the snow falling around them. "WHAT....THE....F-" An all too familiar voice pierced through their minds, addressing them in a telepathic beckoning. It was one they instantly dropped their confusion and paid attention to. It was the master speaking. The air around them instantly felt incredibly cold and dark, much more so than any snow or storm could muster. -"This world is unique from the others, having another barrier all of its own. Even time itself flows differently in this realm. I had to force the barrier open as its cycle wasn't finished."- -"Cycle?"- -"I brought you two there because that world is connected to Equestria, a parallel realm. However it's only like this for limited periods of time, probably based on a lunar count. Because I willed it to connect, there may be some... changes... now that you've arrived."- -"Y-Yes I'm looking right at one...."- -"Pay it no heed, but make haste. I wish not to waste energy holding this realm in place. The cost of keeping the portal to Zenith open grows every second. You two have six hours at most to scout around. Bring back anything of value if you can acquire it, but do not get left behind. I sense three objects of suitable power nearby."- -"We will do as you wish master."- -"It is well then. Return to this statue within three hundred and sixty hundred minutes to report back to Zenith. You best not be late..."- The cold presence left them and retreated back through the portal, leaving the two transformed kaiju standing alone in a crowd. Finally noting the cold through the lack of a hide to shield her, Gyaos couldn't help but curl her now wingless arms in and shiver slightly. Two minutes in a new world in a new body and she was already hating every bit of it. X meanwhile was testing his fingers, thankful his new body was at least somewhat akin to his old one. It only took a moment to compensate his balance from lack of a tail. "Well, if the artifacts are likely within this settlement's limits, a disguise would be useful for weaving in between the humans. Given the local's appearance we should blend in fine. Can you manage?" The albino gyaos wasn't having as easy a time. True, she was able to swap between bipedalism and quadropedalism easily. But even when on two legs she was used to holding her body near parallel to the ground and letting her now nonexistent tail and wings balance her. She attempted to take a step, reaching out and supporting herself on the tall statue behind her. Monster X reached forward, offering a hand to help his teammate steady. "Well? I asked if you can manage? If the new form is too muc-" She smacked away his gloved hand with a swiping motion, hissing lowly. "Give me a moment!" The gyaos took a determined step, managing not to wiggle as badly as before. She stood upright and held her stance proudly. "See? I'm fine." She managed to take a few slow but steady steps to prove her point, rapidly adapting. The albino young woman snorted, looking at the red eyes staring down at her through a mask. Gyaos cleared her throat and quelled her spiteful sounding tone. "Now... these 'artifacts', what are they?" "Items that contain or can conduct large amounts of stored energy. Akin to a massive battery. If this place is anything like Equestria, expect magic of some sort. As for the container, if it's not obvious by look or title, expect it to be contained in a piece of jewelry or apparel. Can you sense energy sources?" "Like a magnet if I'm close enough." "Good. Then as a general rule; if it's radiating a lot of power, grab it." The albino gyaos turned young woman looked around at the crowds and the nearby township. The buildings seemed to go on for miles. Shrunken down and grounded, that was a lot of ground to cover even with six hours. She couldn't hide a groan. "So what, we just amble around until we sense something?" "Sense or get clues to. More valuable the place looks, more likely it is to contain something. I found quite the potent artifact in a vault on my last run. Failing that however, I'd recommend we seek out the human population clusters." Blood red eyes scrutinized the passing, technicolored groups passing around their owner. "If one of the humans has an artifact on their person, being in a place with more of them should increase our chances. Time is wealth." The pale female nodded and after taking some cautious steps, managed to walk off towards a crowd. When her cohort attempted to follow however, she needed only to glance backwards slightly before holding her arm out in the universal 'Stop' motion. Gyaos looked at the passing crowds, eying some as she tried to keep the nagging hunger pains in her stomach from flaring up. "Best if we split up to cover more ground. If the master thinks there are multiple items here then they might be scattered... Besides I work best solo." Her own lie was blatant as a beached whale, both to herself and her audience. After several moments however, a calm but low voice behind her replied. Her wishes were being respected. "So be it, I will see to the south end of the town. Try not to make a big scene, it will only slow our effort's down. I care not for these humans, but only kill or maim if you must." The hyper gyaos dropped her arm and took in a deep breath of cold winter air. Her heart and mind calmed but sunk, and tiny specks of regret fizzled up. Even in a crowd of humans, she hated being alone. Sighing, she closed her eyes and turned around to face him. "...Sorry, I know you brought me along to help but I-...." Her pink eyes reopened, but only saw several deep boot prints spaced out in the snow leading up to a building. A flashing blur of black and white vaulting itself over the edge of the roof signaled departure. Several passersby apparently had seen the escape and were mumbling to themselves, one of them typing something on their phone. The gyaos merely rolled her eyes, her mood souring again. Turning back around, she put her hands in her hoodie's pockets to keep them from freezing and walked off into the crowds; half mumbling and half grumbling. "Show off..." ================= Apartment Complex ================= Sunset Shimmer grunted and grimaced as she finally managed to link in her artificial Christmas tree to its base after almost an hour of toiling. Wiping off her forehead, she stepped back and checked to make sure she hadn't accidentally put the tree up lopsided or crooked for the third or fourth time. Thankfully, this time it was both straight as an arrow and NOT so tall it was trying to go straight through her ceiling. That last thought gave her the mental note to not let Pinkie pick the tree model ever again, her apartment didn't have a four meter ceiling. The former unicorn prodigy walked backwards and flopped down on her worn out couch to catch her breath. Four years in this world and Christmas, or any other December holiday for that matter, still didn't make much sense to her. The emotional side of charity and good will made enough sense, being comparable to Hearth's Warming and now had all the more importance to her now that she had friends to share it with. But the rest of it? Weird, just plain weird. The humans put up fake trees in their livings rooms and put decorations on it only to take them down in about a month. You go out into the snow and sing at your neighbors' houses. And most of all was this Santa Claus figure. Nearly half a decade as a human and Sunset Shimmer was mostly convinced he was merely mythology, but the way everyone treated him so importantly did leave her wondering. From the best she could understand he was some sort of burglar who breaks into ones house via a chimney of all places, eats all your cookies and milk, and then leaves presents or coal behind depending on if you're nice or not. Never mind the issue of him giving already rotten people highly flammable material, the part about how he supposedly knows one's mortality creeped Sunset out to no end. What's so jolly and comforting about some magical stranger who can see you when you're awake or asleep at all times? Taking a sip of some coco she'd brewed up earlier, the red and yellow haired teenager couldn't help but smile as she looked at her tree. Weirdness aside, Sunset couldn't help but admit the cheeriness of the holiday was rubbing off on her. And why not feel a bit happy? Raging she-demon episode behind her, life had been good. Twilight Sparkle's pack of friends had accepted her into their fold, schooling was a bit rough but manageable, and while she still got a few odd looks around town; her adoptive world was growing on her. True, there was some issues. She still hated going off alone for one thing, drew too much attention than she ever wanted to bear without some support. Regardless, The most notable of all of her remaining problems however was a feeling. It was a small sensation, lodged in the back of her mind. Usually choked and drowned with the joys in life, but still refusing to go away entirely. Call it a vibe, but as she sipped her warm drink, Sunset couldn't ignore it. Something felt like it was amiss. Despite the winter holiday cheer, an invisible sliver of strife seemed to have wormed its way into town. Some people had been acting very strange lately, out of character. Rainbow Dash mentioned some of the soccer team sporadically getting so over competitive and angered at eachother one minute; and then completely fine and normal the next like nothing happened. Some of the animals at the shelter had been freaking out all week despite holiday adoptions and Fluttershy's best efforts. And all this was a drop in the bucket compared to a sporadic Black Friday brawl that kicked up out of nowhere in the mall. That place turned into pure anger driven chaos at the drop of a hat despite the shopping crowds having been peaceful just prior. Well, least as peaceful as Black Friday shoppers got. Numerous episodes of people getting competitive, angry, and argumentative for no clear reason kept popping up around town at random. Sunset put her empty cup down and moved to her small dresser, fetching some of her thicker clothes. -If this was Equestria, I'd be the first to call magical shenanigans. But here that would make no sense. This world had no inherent magic aside from things influenced by Twilight's element.- She slipped on her coat and boots, throwing her small backpack over her shoulder as she made for the door. -Maybe it's just humans being humans?- She headed out the apartment and was soon on her way to the fair grounds. Applejack was quite insistent she join the five on their trip to the carnival's opening day. There would be lots of crowds, but thankfully with five friends there to go with; the trek there should be the most nerve wracking part right? Trying to chuckle a bit, Sunset's mind inevitably fumbled over to the last topic she was thinking of. If spell casting was at work, no matter how improbable it was; the enchanter could be causing the problems in town via manipulation. There was one other detail she remembered, one Rarity mentioned before her fashion show turned into a miniature riot. -Singing, someone was singing when it happened.... Celestia told me once some spells can be cast through voice....- ============ Downtown ============ X looked down into the passing crowds as he crouched down and rested his chin on a fist. In the past hour he'd managed to circle the main downtown district and so far wasn't having much luck. There was a museum nearby, but unlike his previous endeavor a quick walk through confirmed the artifacts there were magically inert. He was getting similar findings from the town hall and other buildings that might contain something valuable, so if there were worthy artifacts nearby they likely weren't stashed somewhere. If they were indeed within the local area, they were mostly likely on someone's person. Thus he's resigned himself to finding the largest crowds he could to increase his chances. So far his observations from up on his perch had bore some fruit. The humans seemed to be moving in patterns and trends, with many passing by below him as they funneled into the mall entrance. If he stayed around a bit longer, he might begin to pick up something from the crowds passing below. Still, crouching down on top of a street light like a perched vulture had given him some odd looks. Thankfully, nothing had spurred from any of them outside some passing perplexed glanced. He didn't want to cause a scene and was happy nothing had come of any passersby. If it did that would just complicate matters more than he cared for. The alien kaiju turned human looked down at the shoppers as they passed. An analytical mind, he saw and noted nearly everything before him. Women, men, adults, adolescences, sub-adults, juveniles, children; and every category imaginable was accounted for. Many of them moved in groups, be it families or friends. Some were silent and merely walked forward, others wrapped up in conversation between one another; and others still occupied themselves with their own devices. Several juvenile males running by and racing each other up the mall's steps as they laughed, a pair of women seating themselves at a bench sharing a smile as one rubbed the other's swollen stomach, a man and woman walking to the front doors hand in hand with several younglings surrounding them. It all looked so familiar for something entirely new. It was the first time the Xilian's personal weapon of mass destruction could see a living and thriving settlement up close with so many live humans. During the conflict the humans called Final War, the only time he saw any on Terra was when he was busy fighting the military in either rural areas or long since evacuated cities. Truth be told, humans aside it was the first time he was in a living settlement in what felt like decades. It had been years since he even touched down on planet Xilian, let alone in any one of their great cities from anywhere but a distance. His life for as long as he could remember it had been ordered and structured to the letter, with little exception. His master, the line of Xilian leaders called the Controllers, sent him to where he was needed. He fought what he was told to fight. He went where he was told to go. He destroyed what he was told to destroy. And then as soon as he was finished he was ordered away and locked in that comet they housed him in. He'd dutifully stay there and meditate until he was called upon again, and the process repeated. Sometimes his sense of time felt vague when in meditation, the months and years always tended to blur. Sometimes it felt like only days had passed, despite decades flying by. Other times felt like years locked away in solitude, whilst he was later informed only weeks had been spent. Wasn't like it really mattered, he served his master and just followed their orders. That was all he needed to do. Still, looking at the passersby below and occasionally walking amongst them; felt so unique. It wasn't anything like the military parades he'd occasionally be tasked to take part in decades ago. He didn't feel like a walking skyscraper looming over the passerby. Here he walking about and being part of a crowd while surrounded by others like himself. It felt natural with a disturbing amount of déjà-vu, even if humans were so damn ugly. It all was as uncanny as it was unsettling. X grumbled, brushing aside any thought on the previous matter. He had a job to do and for that he had to focus. Shifting his weight off the balls of his feet and grabbing onto the street light's pole, the kaiju turned human swung down from his perch and slid downwards. Kicking off midway, he skillfully threw himself onto a low rooftop. After rolling across the roof a short distance to spring to his feet, X soon took off across the rooftop, vaulting himself onto the neighboring building. With all these crowds choking the streets, it was the best way to cover as much ground as possible. As he leaped onto the roof of the mall itself and sped across the structure's surface, he could already feel his luck begin to change. Like a trail of scent, he was beginning to pick up an energy signal he was quite familiar with by now. Energy, lots and lots of abnormally flowing energy. Halting at a skylight to a small shop within the structure, X stopped and listened to home in on the enchanted radiation's source. Down below there were a lot of humans acting completely different from the ones outside. Hardly seemed like there was a single one not bickering with another. All except two that were isolated in the corner. They were too busy singing. X's eyes locked onto them, studying the subtle glow coming from an ornaments on their necks. ============ Winter Carnival ============ The albino gyaos hated a lot of things in her life. She hated growing up in a flock of ravenous monsters. She hated feeling like she was starving every few hours. She hated having to fight for her life numerous times, as often against her own flock as an outside force. She hated having to live with her species everyday of her live. And she hated having to be the one to condemn her kind to eventual extinction, being coated in their blood. Though this trip, this little run around that alien had brought her along for. It was giving her a lot more to get angry at. She hated how the cold nipped at her body, wishing for the tropical warmth she was born in. She hated being stuck in this diminutive form, feeling so small it was insulting. And she absolutely hated the fact she was now grounded, wanting nothing more than to fly away from this whole mess. The alien had brought her here to try and snap her out of her depression, this she was sure of. But she managed to botch that effort not ten minutes into the attempt by driving him off. Despite her power, the woman couldn't help but have wary eyes that looked around her as she moved with the crowd to the entrance of some festival. Despite being around many, it was only foreigners amongst her. She was surrounded, but totally alone. And as a social species, that perhaps was what she hated most. Still, new body seemed to have some small perks to it, least once she got walking down. For one, the alien was right and it was well suited to not drawing attention. The humans here were far more colorful than the ones back on Terra, so her odd palette apparently didn't stick out much. Secondly, while she still felt a tad ravenous; her hunger cramps had remained at somewhat within tolerable, non-pain inducing levels. The warm smell of cooking flesh soon greeted her nose and aroused her full attention. -Well, not to say I'm not up for a bite. Never could focus when on an empty stomach- Wandering through and out of the crowd, she soon found herself standing in front of a sizable food stall. She cared little for whoever this 'Barbeque' was or what a 'Fair Ticket' was for. She was too focused on the hack of turkey leg sitting and smoking on the counter. Sunset Shimmer hopped off the bus and strode up to the entrance of the fairgrounds. She had just walked up to the front when a particular sight gave her pause. They were all in there. Every last boy and girl of her school was going about their business between the booths. Her entry into the fair was effectively blocked, there was no way she was getting anywhere near that crowd alone. Already she was on the receiving end of some unwanted glances and glares. Almost on cue, her phone vibrated and the former unicorn whipped it out. Only a few people had her number, so any call at this point could only mean one of two things. Either a telemarketer from India was calling again, or one of a certain group of five was calling in. Hoping and praying it was the later, Sunset's face grew to a small smile upon seeing it was a text from Pinkie Pie. Unfortunately it's content quickly squashed the hope that her friends were on their way to walk inside the fair with her. -"Srry SS, AJ's van got a flat on teh road and we're going to need a new 1. Rainbow Dash did pound Abott"- Sunset Shimmer looked at the last line of the text with bewilderment. She understood the car problems part, but who did what now?! She understood human slang and really hoped she wasn't reading what she thought she was reading. Fortunately another text popped up several moments later to clarify. -"OOOH WOOOOW I am so srry! Freaking Autocorrect. Rainbow Dash did a ROUND ABOUT and it messed up the tire. So we're gonna be delayed biggie time."- Sunset couldn't stop herself from mentally swearing as she typed out the reply. Her heart sunk upon hitting the send button, but a barrage to her ears ripped away all attention. Someone was having a shouting match. Half expecting someone to be yelling at her, she looked up to the barbeque booth a few meters away to find it wasn't the case. A deathly pale young woman looked like she was gearing up to clobber Mr. Smokey Bones over the head with a turkey leg she'd half eaten. A leg that judging from the chef's shouting dialogue, she hadn't paid the fair tickets for. Mr. Bones made a lunge, calling out for some help as he grabbed the woman by the wrist. Sunset held her breath and ran forward. The gyaos was just about to sink her shrunken but still present fangs into the pestering primate's wrist for daring to touch her, when a flash of yellow and red shot up beside her. A yellow hand popped up in front of the chef, holding several slips of parchment. "Sorry, here's the tickets!" Both the kaiju turned human and Smokey Bones froze in an awkward moment. The chef raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the younger woman. "She with you Ms. Shimmer?" "Y-Yes, just from out of town and forgot her tickets. Sorry for the trouble sir." The gyaos was still motionless and thoroughly confused as to what was going on. She refrained from any tooth to wrist contact, the alien's words reasserting themselves. The man let go of her and began talking to the young female, but she barely paid any attention to their words. If the situation was defused, no need to cause a bloody mess. Right now she just wanted her food and to not be harassed. "Well sorry for the mix up, thought I was getting swindled." Sunset's vision was half cast on Mr. Smokey and half on the multiple sets of eyes she could feel upon her, making the whole situation more awkward by the moment. She still wasn't quite sure why she intervened, but someone had to help out. It's what Celestia or Twilight would have wanted of her, and she couldn't just stand by. "It's okay, just a little misunderstanding. Have a good day!" Smokey Bones smiled and rang up the charge as Sunset finally got the chance to step out of the limelight. She gently hooked her arm around the strange woman's free arm and started motioning for them to depart. The contact snapped the hyper gyaos back to attention and she needed to mentally resist the urge to throw the younger female off. Still, instinct barred her. She sighed, taking a large bite out of her turkey leg and followed Sunset Shimmer's motion and let herself be towed. Besides, if sticking around this company got her some food without any threat, maybe she'd hang around for a bit. Not like she particularly enjoyed going off on her own. Sunset Shimmer towed them along through the fairgrounds for some time. Thankfully her plan to blend into the crowd and not be singled out had succeeded to taking some prying eyes off of her and her new cohort. Only issue now was she realized she was currently walking around with a complete stranger who had worse table manners than Rainbow Dash. Didn't help that four years in a world full of omnivores and she was still unable to so much as touch meat. Despite her wariness, she still didn't let go both for fear of now being alone in a festival full of her classmates and on the off chance this poor lady got herself into more trouble. Judging from the occasional confused look she picked up from the white skinned woman, she'd only get lost more than she already seemed to be if Sunset left her alone right now. Darn holiday generosity was rubbing off on her again. The albino finished off her meal in record time and opted not to chew off the cartilage or snap the bone open to get at the marrow, following the example of a human she'd seen and tossing it into a large can. Finally, her stomach ceased its growling and she felt sated. The gyaos let out a content sigh as the red and yellow one motioned for them to sit down on a nearby bench. She did so, only for a long moment of silent awkwardness to pass them by. "....So, I hope you enjoyed your turkey?...hehe eeh..." The pale woman's voice was remarkably quiet, and very blank. "Yes, it was good..." "Yoooou here for the fair?" "Just wandering through." Sunset could catch a hint about someone who didn't want to talk. She silenced herself and her awkward attempts at small talk. However when the former unicorn tried to pull away, the arm curled around her's pulled her in slightly. She heard a small but course sigh. The gyaos looked over at the human, a foreign expression creeping onto her face as warmth hit her chest and the corners of her mouth rose slightly. Her voice lightened up considerably. "Thanks, by the way... I wasn't in the mood to fight over food." Sunset Shimmer looked back and returned the smile, nodding. The pale newcomer was definitely not a face she'd seen around town before, so her earlier statement to Smokey Bones about her being not from around here was looking to be coincidentally accurate. Age wise she actually didn't look that much older than Sunset herself. She'd gander only a half decade or so to the 19 year old's elder; putting her in the mid twenties at most. Heck, given a color change and perhaps a slightly different facial build; and newcomer could easily pass as a big sister or cousin. "Welcome, seemed like you needed some help and it was the right thing to do. I'm Sunset Shimmer." Sunset offered the pale woman her hand to shake, but the would-be receiver just looked at her hand with a confused expression. The albino gyaos was only sure of one thing, this yellow and red female was just as weird as any other human. Still, there wasn't any hint of malign intent coming out of the one sitting to her right, even if her mannerisms were strange. And as much as she wanted to ignore it, the primate's presence surprisingly was not pestering her. She looked up from the yellow hand and at Sunset's face. Her voice had defrosted a bit from earlier, but still was as dull as it was quiet. "Greetings then, I'm not used to charity..." Sunset Shimmer blinked a few moments before slowly retracting her hand. The much maligned sense of unease and awkwardness was creeping back in. "Um.. sorry, I've not really gone out of town much. But around here when someone gives you their name I think you're supposed to give them yours back." "Oh..." The pale woman's face slipped down a bit as she leaned forward and looked to her lap. "Apologies then, I don't have one to give you." Sunset Shimmer's confusion blotted out any of her own negativity and doubt. She tilted her head. It took the high-schooler a moment to figure out if the pink-eyed one was lying to her and simply not wanting give her name out, or if she was being brutally honest. Thankfully hanging around Applejack so long rubbed off, and she was able to pick out it being truthful. "Huh? Why's that? I mean, everyone has a name right? You know, the title your family gives you when you're born so you know when someone's calling you?" Bad thoughts slithered through the kaiju's mind and festered like a plague. If that was something families did, her's was the exception. If you could even call her upbringing a family. Her siblings, her aunts, her grandparent, even her own mother tried to kill her at one time or another. When a gyaos got hungry enough, there were no barriers on what was food. She was just the one who was cursed with a conscious and knew who was trying to tear her throat out. Still, she had to stay with a flock of flying piranha. In a world out to kill her, the flock, that cannibalistic, vile, hateful, evil horde; was the only thing she had. An all too familiar emotion was seeping in slowly. "Mine didn't." Painful memories were flickering forth when a hand gently cast itself onto her own. The albino snapped her head up to see the slightly frowning face of Sunset Shimmer looking back at her. The unicorn had read her face, and drawn her own conclusions. -Poor soul, probably from an abusive family...- "Is your family here?" "....No..." The pale woman sat back, leaning her head up. For reasons unknown to her, she felt a clamping on her chest. Her eyes began to feel a bit wet. Why was she bothering to speak with this half fur-less monkey? It was only a waste of time. She wanted to leave now. The gyaos attempt to will herself to get up and walk, no, run away. Get free of this human and her words. She tried to rise... She failed. Something kept her drawn in like a magnet. She unconsciously squeezed Sunset's hand a bit firmer. Her words were as true as they were painful, in ways she knew the human could never guess, never understand. But that didn't seem to matter. "I, freed myself from them awhile ago...." Sunset sighed, leaning back into her seat. "So, you're alone huh? No friends either?" The gyaos let her vision drift to the skies above, her world beginning to zone out. "Yes, I'm flying solo..." The former unicorn's face drooped a bit more as all too familiar memories came back to light. Ones of self exile, demons, turning her back on everything and anyone around her. Sunset Shimmer looked up at the sky high above. 'Alone' that was a word she'd known well for four years. Four years away from her first home, her first teacher. One of the snow clouds high above vaguely reminded her a winged, horned equine. One who's fur was as white as the falling snow. -Just like I was...- But amongst the nightmarish memory came remembrance of joys. That fourth year, she'd learned something. Good days and years, surrounded by company. All thanks to the example of a purple alicorn who became a woman. It was in that fourth year she truly had a new home. "You know, a friend of mine once told me something about situations like yours when I was experiencing it." Pink eyes cast themselves upon Sunset before she looked back at them. Her head told her it was impossible for some talking monkey to tell her anything of value. Something in her chest told her otherwise. "Even if you lose all of your circle of friends or family... If you work hard enough, you can get a new one." "But how do you do that?" Sunset's smile was as warm as her namesake. "Invite people you like in. But, one step at a time I suppose. Wanna start with a name for yourself for your friends to call you? The pale woman looked to Sunset. She said nothing to object, her gaze curious. Sunset proceeded. "How abooooout-" She looked the woman over, almost wishing they were back in Equestria. An off glance at a cutie mark was usually more than enough to at least guess at a name. But they weren't in any realm of magical talent tattoos, so she had to make do with what she had. Looking over any feature on the confused face, she immediately homed in on the pearl-hued irises. "...Irys?" The former gyaos blinked a few times, looking down as her lip puzzled. It took some time before she looked up at Sunset Shimmer. Slowly and steadily, the albino woman in a sweater cracked her first full, honest, happy smile in her life. She nodded a bit, chuckling slightly. "....Yes, I like that one.... My name is Irys." "Well then Irys-" Sunset Shimmer sat up and offered Irys a hand up. This time she understood the gesture and took it. "I guess I've got the honor of being your first friend." ====== Mall ====== Adagio Dazzle was a siren with ambition. The ring leader of a certain trio, she was the one who came up with the idea to enter this town to hunt down a surge of magic. She was the who came up with all the plans and schemed to the group's gains. She however was not present in the Canterlot Mall. Instead the cause of rampant shoplifting and at least two fights security needed to break up were her two lackeys. Sonata Dusk, living proof one could possibly be even more of a ditz than Derpy Hooves; and Aria Blaze, possibly one of the most easily annoyed and bored sentients in existence. Sonata spun around a bit, letting her new and 'free of charge' jacket sway a bit, hardly noticing bickering women surrounding her. Of all the attires she'd tried on in the past hour, this was probably the one she'd walk home with. Purple did look nice on her. Still, a second opinion never could hurt. She waltzed over to the counter where a half reclined Aria laid down reading a book. "Eeeeeey Ari', think I should get this one oooor the red one?" A low grumble sounded off as the second siren sat up and snapped her book shut. Green, smoky energy, invisible to all but themselves, still trickling into the pulsing red gem on her necklace. Aria disliked being interrupted whilst eating, loathed her concentration being snapped; and outright hated giving fashion advice. Didn't help the questioner was a moron. She shrugged, rubbing her temple. "Sonata... You know well as I do that I really don't give a damn about clothing. But, I won't snap this time... I'm JUST going to say, pick sooomething that'll mean you won't complain about freezing your toes off in like last night when the heater shut down... Peachy?" Sonata's eyes narrowed for a moment, but softened quickly as she rolled them. "Meh, purple then I guess. None of us really looked good in red anywhooddles." Aria shrugged and laid back down to keep feeding. Humans were so easy to stir up, but draining away even this much strife was like trying to fill a plus sized swimming pool with a spray bottle. Progress was made, so long as she kept at it; but it was agonizingly slow. She whipped her book back out to pass the time as Sonata went back to the clothes aisles. Shoving her way past two arguing couples, the blue siren hummed to herself as she snatched up a deep purple sweater. She had just started to hold it up to get a better look at it when she noticed something about the skylight above. Or rather, what was on the skylight above her. A pair of large gloved hands. Trailing her point of focus down the arms, she soon found herself looking into a pair of bright red eyes partially hidden behind a white mask. It was a large figure clad in black, bracing itself against the glass and looking down at her. Sonata half hiccupped and looked up wide eyed. After a few wayward glances to try and track its point of view, she verified it was staring directly at her. The mask clad head tilted, almost curiously, but didn't blink. And with that it was thoroughly freaking the young woman out. She kept her wide eyed expression as she walked backwards to the counter. She whispered. "Aria..." The blood red eyes looked down at her neck, narrowing slightly. "Aaaaarrrriaa..." Averting her vision for a moment, Sonata dropped the sweater and grabbed Aria by the shoulder and shook it. "ARIA!" The purple siren snarled and jolted upwards. "WHAT!?!" "There's someone looking at me..." Aria couldn't have hit her own forehead with her palm any harder. Her voice was a mix of a whisper and grumble. "...Is it the guy from the Taco stand you charmed again?..." "No! Up in the skylight, freaky red eyes!" Both sirens looked up at the skylight to see...absolutely nothing but some passing pigeons and scattered snowflakes. Sonata's eyebrows raised as Aria glared at her before lightly bopping Sonata on the head with her thankfully paperback novel. "Ey!" "There's NOTHING there Sonata." "But there was a-" "You probably just imagined it like you did that tooth fairy." "It broke into my room I swear!" "You nearly set the cabin on fire..." "Hey the hairspray and lighter were the only weapons on hand and that thing was coming at me! How was I supposed to know cotton curtains were that flammable?!" Aria grumbled loudly and rubbed her temple to ease a taught nerve. "I thought I told you to stop watching Twilight Zone late at night." Sonata's face drooped considerably. Aria shrugged, rolling her eyes before leaning down and picking up the magenta sweater, handing it to the blue siren. "Look. Just, go back to trying stuff on okay? Security's probably going to show up soon if one of these humans starts another fight." Sonata nodded a bit, taking the sweater and wordlessly walking over to the changing area on the back of the store. -Aria's a smarty pants, she's probably right.- Sighing contently, her heart beat slowed back down to normal. She approached the changing stalls, sighing contently. -Yooooou probably just got spooked over that ghost episo- A loud noise echoed out of the manager's office seated next to the changing stalls and her heart beat shot back up. It sounded like shattering glass. The manager was out of her office, currently involved in a verbal melee in the men's section, leaving the door cracked open. A second's pause flew by before Sonata put the sweater down on a rack and approached the door. Tentatively grasping the handle, she pulled open the creaking door just to look inside. The back window was broken into, cold air flowing into the room and out the door. However Sonata's attention was more settled on the tall figure vaulting itself down from the window frame and onto the floor. It slowly rose up to its height, easily two meters tall and looked up with red eyes that glowed in the dim light. Its head snapped over slightly, looking right at her. It stayed motionless for a few moments, before shifting and starting a slow walk forward; its scarf swaying in the breeze. Sonata couldn't have closed the door and rushed over to Aria any quicker even if she flew. Aria didn't have any time to react before her fellow siren grabbed her by the arm, and in a show of 'adrenaline junky' strength, yanked her across the store to the manager's door. Sonata was babbling at such high speed the purple siren couldn't even understand her at first. It took a moment for Aria's head to clear up, but when it did she was most certainly not happy. "OhForTheLoveOf... WHAT IS IT NOW SONATA?!" Sonata froze and pointed at the door with her eyes wide as dinner plates. Aria was not amused, letting out a drawn out groan. "Leeet me guess... Oooool' Red Eyes again?" Sonata nodded rapidly, speaking almost as fast. "YES! He broke into the room! He's behind the door!" Aria just blinked slowly, reaching out the grabbing the door handle. If she didn't shut Sonata up somehow she was never going to finish her book or her meal. Time to disprove her again. "There is nothing there." "NO DON'T OPEN THAT!" Sonata couldn't stop Aria's arm from pulling the old door open. Aria kept her head turned, so confident in her result that she didn't look forward at first. "See, it's just your rampant imagin-" She finally looked ahead of herself, and right into a pair of narrowed red eyes as a tall masked man in black was busy striding up to her. He was only about 10 feet away and she could already hear him growling. "aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaatioooo- HOLY McCARTHY!" Both women screamed and Aria slammed the door shut hard enough to rock the entire wall, bracing up against it. A muffled growl sounded off through the door before the intruder attempted to use the door handle. "OW!MhFMCE!" Sonata's eyes rapidly darted to the back of the counter, spying a ring of keys under the cash register. Sprinting across the room, she dove over the counter and grabbed her prize. "ARIA! HEADS UP!" She chucked the keys over to the other siren, who was busy holding the jittering door handle still. Unfortunately she didn't look up quick enough to react in time and the quarter pound key ring smacked Aria square in the face. "OW!" "I'M SORRY!" "JUST GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME YOU IDIOT!" Aria was putting her full weight into an already heavy door, keeping a death grip on the door handle to the point her knuckles turned white. Even then, she was just barely able to keep the intruder on the other side of the door from using said handle to rip the door open. Sonata rushed over to Aria's side, snatching up the key ring and frantically trying to whip out the key labeled 'Manager's Office'. If she had butter fingers she probably would have gotten it a second too late. Gasping as she got the right key, Sonata jammed it into the door lock and yanked downward to break off the key into the lock. No longer feeling the door handle jostle violently, Aria grabbed Sonata by the shoulder and rapidly backed up and away from the door. The two sirens watched on as the now jammed handle jittered back and forth rapidly. Then it stopped and silenced passed. The intruder had apparently given up. After some time, a half nervous, half relieved giggle slithered out of Sonata before infecting Aria. Within a short time the latter sensation won over as the two fell back a bit, bursting out laughing for no other reason than to avoid screaming from the adrenaline rush. Aria playfully punched Sonata in the ribs. "You blue moron, you're supposed to call someone to get their attention THEN throw something at 'em." "Kehe not my fault you got worse coordination than me~" "Yeesh I'm worse than the worst then." " 'EY!" Their relief was cut short by a sharp, loud bang. The sirens' eyes slowly cast themselves to the door. Several seconds passed before another, louder crash sounded off as a large dent burst itself into the metal door. "No freakin' way..." "He's coming through the door!" Another burst of sound, another large dent shooting out. Now the door frame itself was beginning to bend. Aria was quick to get to her feet, pulling Sonata up with her. "I can see that! RUN!" The two sirens sprinted out of the store just before a powerful front kick knocked the door off its hinges. Monster X burst out of the shadow and vaulted himself over the countertop. His face was still throbbing from having a door slammed into it, but he chewed back his pain and kept his eyes from watering over a bruised nose. The monster didn't focus on the arguing masses of humans, they hardly seemed to react to anything other than themselves and so far hadn't even responded to his presence. X was quick to put matters together. -Definitely magic- He was too honed in on the fleeing pair in front of him as he started to gain on them. The Xilian kaiju launched off his perch, throwing aside a distracted pair of women to barge through them. -Target acquired...-